5 Poisonous Foods

You watch what you eat daily. Perhaps you've cut down on carbs, fat and sugar. Maybe you've even increased your fiber intake and take supplements regularly. But did you know that some foods could make you violently sick or even kill you?

Read on to find out which foods are poisonous to humans.

Fruit seeds (Cyanide)What are they found in? Apple seeds, cherry stones, and the kernels inside the pits of apricots, nectarines, peaches, and plums.

Why are they poisonous? The American Medical Association (AMA)'s Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants states that eating a large quantity of apple seeds (and other seeds) can be fatal due to the presence of the toxin cyanogenic glycoside, or cyanide. The exact lethal dose is unknown, although swallowing the seeds of a single apple is generally harmless for an adult. Children are more vulnerable: 15 apricot kernels are sufficient to kill them.

What are the symptoms? Excessive sweating, abdominal pain, vomiting, and lethargy. In severe cases, convulsions, incontinence, coma, and even death.

How to avoid them: Avoid eating any fruit seeds or kernels. If you are juicing or baking apples, remove the core first.

Pufferfish (Tetrodotoxin)What are they found in? Fish that are members of the Tetraodontiformes order, particularly pufferfish. Although not commonly consumed by humans, toadfish, parrotfish, angelfish, and xanthid crabs can cause the same type of poisoning.

Why are they poisonous? Although the flesh of pufferfish may not be dangerous, their liver, intestines, skin, and gonads can cause a more violent poisoning than any other marine species. This is due to the high levels of the poison tetrodotoxin contained in these organs.

What are the symptoms? Pufferfish poisoning can cause paresthesia (a numbing, burning, tingling, or crawling sensation on the skin), paralysis, convulsions, and death within 4 to 6 hours.

How to avoid them: Although pufferfish is generally not allowed into the United States, be careful if you happen to be fishing in the Indo-Pacific ocean regions, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Gulf of California. If you are in Japan, avoid the delicacy known as fugu , which is pufferfish from which the viscera has been removed to reduce risks of poisoning.